Pressing machine



Sept. 4, 1962 M. MUTOLESE FRESSING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1960 MICHAELMUTOLEE mm H W ATTORNEY United E tates 3,652,388 PRESSING MACHINEMichael Mutolese, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to John G. Weingarten,line, Haverford, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania lFiled Apr. 5, 1964),Ser. No. 26,510 6 Claims. (Cl. 223-57) The present invention relates toa pressing machine, and more particularly to a pressing machine forpressing the collar and adjacent shoulder portions of a coat.

In the manufacture of coats, the final operation is the pressing of thecoat. It has been found that the collar of a coat is very difficult topress properly. Therefore, unless the presser is an expert who knows howto shape a collar, and takes the time necessary to properly shape thecollar, the collar will be stretched. The stretching of the collar of acoat causes the collar to stand away from the neck when the coat isworn.

It is object of the present invention to provide a pressing machine forpressing the collar of a coat.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pressingmachine for pressing the collar of a coat Without stretching the collar.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressingmachine for pressing the collar of a coat which will enable a relativelyunskilled operator to achieve a high level of quality pressing.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide acollar pressing machine which will produce coats of consistent presseduniformity.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in thedrawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood,however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the pressing machine of the presentinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial front elevational View taken along the lines 22 ofFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view of the buck taken along the lines 33of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view showing details of the floating mountbetween the pressure head and its support.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of the presser head taken along the lines 5-5of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like numerals indicate like elements,there is shown in FIGURE 1 an elevational view of the pressing machineof the present invention.

The pressing machine, generally designated by the numeral It), comprisesa base 12 having an upright pressing head support 14 at its back end,and an upright buck supporting column 16 in front of the pressing headsupport 14. A buck 18, made from a porous material and padded as is wellknown in the art, is mounted on the buck supporting column 16. Apressing head 20 is secured to one end of a pair of parallel arms 22 bya floating mount which will be discussed in detail hereinafter. Theparallel arms 22 are provided with a reinforcing bracket 23 and arepivoted to the pressing head support 14 by pivot pin 24. Pivotation ofthe arms 22 moves the pressing head 20 into and out of engagement withthe buck 18.

The buck 18 is preferably formed of a casting having the configurationof the upper body portion of a person. As is well known in the art, thebuck 18 will be made porous and will be provided with padding on itsouter surface and a lining of linen material will be stretched over thebuck so as to provide a smooth outer surface. Since the buck 18 has theconfiguration of the upper portion of a Patented Sept. 4, I962 person,the elements thereof have the same corresponding relation to a person.Thus, the buck 18 has a downwardly extending front chest portion 30, apair of substantially horizontally extending shoulder portions 32 and aneck portion 34 projecting upwardly between the shoulder portions 32.The upper surfaces of the shoulder portions 32 are rounded, and arecontoured into the neck portion 34. Thus, when a coat is placed over thebuck 18, the collar and adjacent shoulder portions of the coat will besupported by the buck 18 in the same position that the coat is supportedwhen worn by a person.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the buck 18 is seated on top of the bucksupporting column 16 with the shoulder portions 32 and the neck portion34 being above the top end of the column 16, and with the chest portion30 of the buck 13 extending along the front side of the column 16. Aplate 36, having a plurality of holes 4% therethrough, is secured to theend of column 16 which is located inside of the buck 18. Thus, the plate36 cooperates with the buck I8 to provide a vacuum chamber 38 within theshoulder portions 32 and the chest portion 30 of the buck 18. Animperforate plate 42 is secured across the interior of the column 16beneath the perforated plate 36. A pipe 44 extends through the plate 42and is in communication with the vacuum chamber 38 through the holes 4%in plate 36. The pipe 44 extends downwardly through the buck supportingcolumn 16, and is connected to a means for creating a vacuum, such as avacuum pump. A second pipe 4% extends through the buck supporting column16, pipe 48 having one end located just :below the imperforate plate 2and its other end being connected to a pipe 50, which in turn isconnected to a source of steam. Pipe 48 delivers steam to a point justbelow imperforate plate 4-2. so as to provide a means for heating thebuck 18. Pipe 5t) delivers steam to the presser head 2d by way offlexible hose 51 which is connected to pipe 46 on the presser head Zll.

The floating mount between the presser head 24 and the parallel arms 22will now be described. As shown in FIGURES 1, 2, and 4, the parallelarms 22 are provided with a pair of bearing blocks 54. Each of thebearing blocks 54 is welded to a separate one of said parallel arms 22by welding 55. It will be noted that the bearing blocks 54- extendoutwardly in a radial direction away from the parallel arms 22, and areperpendicular to said parallel arms 22. Each bearing block 54 isprovided with a pair of spaced holes 56 therethrough. The upper surfaceof the presser head 20 is provided with two sets of pins. Pins 52 areprovided on one side of the upper surface of presser head 2t and pins 53are provided on the other side of the upper surface of presser head 20.Pins 52 extend through holes 56 in the bearing blocks 54 and areprovided with threaded ends. Mounted on the threaded ends of pins 52,there are provided adjusting nuts. Between the adjusting nuts on eachpin 52 and the upper surface of the bearing blocks 54 there are providedsprings 57 which surround each of the pins 52 and bias the adjustingnuts in a direction away from hearing block 54. The cooperation betweenpins 53 and bearing blocks 54 is identical with the above description ofthe cooperation between pins 52 and the bearing block 54. Each of thebearing blocks 54 is provided on their lowermost surface with atransverse socket 599. The upper surface of presser head 20 is providedwith a pair of semispherical projections 58 which cooperate with thesockets 59 to enable the pressure head 20 to have a self-accommodatingrelationship with the buck 18. Since the springs 57 are the only meansholding the presser head 20 in assembled disposition with the parallelarms 22, the presser head 20 has a floating mount. To allow the presserhead to have a self-accommodating relationship with the buck 18, theholes 56 in the bearing blocks 54 are substantially greater than thediameter of the pins 52 and 53. Thus, it will be seen that the presserhead Ztl has a certain amount of rocking movement with relation to theparallel arms 22. Connected to the bearing blocks 54, there are provideda pair of parallel legs 68 which are connected to the bearing blocks inany convenient manner such as by nuts and bolts or welding. At theirlower extremity, the legs 68 are connected together by a handle 79.

The pressing head 20 is preferably formed as a hollow metal castinghaving a steam chamber therein. Steam is admitted to the steam chamberin the pressing head 29 by valve 65 which is operated by a manual lever64. The inner surface of the pressing head 20 is provided with a blindcavity '74- which is shaped or contoured so as to conform with the outersurface of the buck 18. The contour of the cavity 74 is shown in phantomin FIG- URES l and 2. When the pressing head 20 is disposed over andadjacent to the buck 18, the pressing head 20 will envelop the shoulderportion 34 and the truncated neck 35 of the buck 18. Thus, only thecollar of a coat will be pressed. The cavity 74 of the presser head 20is provided with a series of holes 7 6 which extend in a horseshoefashion around the cavity 74 so as to admit steam from the steam chamberin presser head Ztl to the collar portion of a coat on the buck 18.

The steam line St) is provided with adjustable time control 78 whichautomatically cuts oif the flow of steam into the steam pipe t? after apredetermined time. The timer 78 is initiated by lever 64' whichoperates valve 65 in a manner which, per se, is well known in the artand not shown in the drawing.

Extending from the base 12 there is provided a pair of levers 26 and 23.When the presser head 20 is pulled down juxtaposition to buck 18 byhandle 70, the lever 26 is depressed by the operators foot so as to lockthe presser head in its lowermost position. As shown in FIGURE 2, thereis provided a manual lever 66 which trips the locking mechanism andallows the presser head N to be returned to its uppermost position. Asis well known in the art per se, a spring is provided in the support 1-4for returning the presser head 2% to its uppermost position when thelocking mechanism has been tripped by lever 66. Lever 28 controls thevacuum source, such as a vacuum pump. When desired, depression of lever28 operates a mechanism not shown for placing vacuum chamber 33 incommunication with a source of vacuum. A vacuum in chamber 38 causes thegarment placed on buck 18 to withdraw any liquid on the garment, andthereby dries the garment.

The operation of the coat collar pressing machine of the presentinvention is as follows:

A coat is draped over the buck 18 with the shoulders of the coatextending along the shoulder port-ions 32 of the buck l8 and with thecollar of the coat fitting around the neck portion 34 of the buck '18.The operator then manually pulls the presser head 26 in juxtaposition tothe buck 18 by handle 7%. The lever 26 is then depressed to lock thepresser head Ztl in juxtaposition to the buck 18 with the garmenttherebetween. The provision of a floating mount between the presser headand the parallel arms 22. allows the presser head 24) to beselfaccommodating to the garment positioned on buck 18. Thisself-accommodating feature allows a range or versatility in the type ofcoats to be pressed on buck 18. The operator pulls down on lever 64thereby opening valve 65 and initiating timer '78. When the timer 78shuts off, there will be an absence of steam coming out of holes 75 ofthe presser head 20. The operator then depresses lever 28 with his footso as to provide a vacuum in vacuum chamber 38 which will dry thegarment and remove any steam or moisture from the surface thereof. Afterthe garment has been dried, lever 66 will be actuated so as to returnpresser head 20 to its uppermost position. Then. the garment can beremoved from the buck 18.

Thus, in the pressing machine it of the present invention, the buck 18supports the collar of the coat so that the collar is properly shapedduring the pressing operation. Therefore the pressing machine it) of thepresent invention can be operated by an inexperienced operator, and willprovide a perfectly pressed coat collar every time. As a result ofapplicants novel presser head and its floating mount, the collar willnot be stretched. In addition, the pressing machine 10 of the presentinvention supports every coat the same way so that there is provided auniform shaping and pressing of the coat collars.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A pressing machine comprising a base, an upright support along oneside of said base, an upright column on said base along another sidethereof, a buck mounted on said column, a presser head having a blindcavity, the upper edges of said head lying in substantially the sameplane, a front portion of said head being substantially longer than arear portion thereof, and the distance between opposite sides of saidhead being substantially less than the distance across shoulders on saidbuck, said head being adapted to press only a collar of a garment onsaid buck, said presser head being connected to each one of a pair ofarms with a floating mount, said arms being pivotably connected to saidupright support, and means for selectively moving said presser head injuxtaposition to said buck so that said presser head envelops a portionof said buck in said blind cavity, and said floating mount connection ofsaid presser head enabling said presser head to be self-accommodatingwith respect to said buck.

2. A pressing machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said floatingmount includes a pair of spaced semi-circular surfaces on said presserhead, and a cooperating socket on a journal block secured to said arms,said semi-spherical surfaces being received within said cooperatingsockets, whereby said presser head has a substantial amount of pivotablemovement toward and away from said upright support.

3. A pressing machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said floatingmount includes a journal block fixedly secured to each arm, a pair ofholes in each block, a pin on said presser head extending through eachhole in said blocks, the diameter of said holes being larger than theexternal diameter of each pin, resilient means biasing the presser headagainst said journal blocks, and semicircular surfaces on said presserhead received within semi-circular sockets on said journal blocks.

4. A collar pressing machine comprising a buck and a pressing head, saidbuck having substantially horizontal shoulders converging into atruncated neck, said head being annular in plan view and having a blindcontoured cavity which is identical to the shape of and adapted to matewith only said neck to shape only the collar of a garment, said headhaving a front portion which is substantially longer than a rear portionthereof, said front portion being adapted to cooperate with an upperchest portion of said buck in front of said neck, said rear portionbeing adapted to cooperate with the rear portion of said neck, thedistance between opposite sides of said head being substantially lessthan the distance across said shoulders, the upper edge of said frontand rear portions being in substantially the same plane, and means forselectively moving said presser head in juxtaposition to said neck sothat said neck is enveloped by said blind cavity.

5. A machine in accordance with claim 4 including an upright supportspaced from said buck, said head being pivotably supported by saidupright support, and means enabling said head to move toward and awayfrom said support so as to be self-accommodating with respect to saidbuck.

6. A machine in accordance with claim 4 wherein said pressing head isprovided with a steam chamber therein, openings through the innersurface of said head providing communication between said chamber andsaid blind cavity, said openings being arranged in a horseshoe patternwith the arcuate portion of said pattern being adjacent the rear portionof said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSColeman Oct. 27, 1936 De Marco May 24, 1938 Liebowitz Dec. 26, 1950Mutolese July 23, 1957 Stiefel May 30, 1961

